Page 38 - Fables volume 2

on preliminary demonstrations of pacific behavior. Once the
presumed female scent was in the water, the jousting began in
earnest. The crowd did not react with horror when a thrust seemed
to hit home—it cheered lustily. But Sven always stopped the match
before it was too late to save one of the narwhals from disaster,
although it had been billed as a fight to the finish.
This revised presentation of the Ivory Sword lasted for most of
one summer. It ended abruptly when the bladder of concentrated
cherry juice tied to the bottom of the tank opened prematurely,
spreading its carmine dye before Olaf and Gustav had touched
rapiers. Sven Haraldsen lost everything, including his front teeth.
The narwhal brothers decided to break their contract; they would
take their chances in the open sea. Sven was forlorn: how would he
make a living?
As the erstwhile fencers wriggled across the rocks toward an
uncertain fate in the ocean, Olaf looked at Gustav. They stopped,
facing Sven. Olaf pointed with a flipper at a bedraggled caravan of
trucks and carts parked by the road. It was a failed Swedish circus
and sideshow, disbanding on the spot. One wagon was gaily painted
with an image of two kangaroos facing each other aggressively.
There! Olaf seemed to indicate. There you will find your next pair of
stooges!

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